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Pop: New Releases: McFly: Wonderland

McFly’s debut album revealed a band heavily influenced by melodic 1960s pop; Wonderland features a tougher, tighter sound. There are a couple of tracks that lean heavily on the Who: the former 10cc member Graham Gouldman co-writes I’ve Got You, supplying a Pete Townshend-style intro, while Nothing simply co-opts the riff from Substitute (the nice irony of an inferior copy of a song about inferior copies will probably be lost on the Who’s lawyers). The two attempts at more mature songwriting don’t work. The Ballad of Paul K — supposedly about midlife crises — is dull, while the strings that dominate She Falls Asleep are dire. The band are at their best when they stick to emulating Busted, who have, conveniently, stepped aside to let McFly have a clear run at the charts. Three star